Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Local Government Update

Michael Gove: Today the Government has published details on the Local Government Finance Settlement for the next two years for English councils, which prioritises protecting local tax payers and vital core services. Local government has long called for greater certainty on funding following repeated one-year settlements, greater local control of finances, and a focus on social care. This two-year policy statement delivers on all of these fronts.The Government estimates that on average councils will see an increase of around 9% in their funding next year. We have delivered on the sector’s requests for additional funding through the £2.8 billion announced at the Autumn Statement for social care. We are also ensuring that this year’s Settlement provides support across all tiers of local government through a new, one-off funding guarantee that ensures all local authorities will see a minimum 3% increase in their Core Spending Power before taking any local decisions on council tax levels. Councils are best placed to make local decisions to meet pressures and ensure that our most vulnerable in society get the support they need, and therefore it is for individual local authorities to determine the level of flexibility they use in setting council tax. The policy statement confirms a core referendum principle of up to 3% for both 2023-24 and 2024-25.The Government’s manifesto commits to continuing to protect local taxpayers from excessive council tax increases, and it is for the House of Commons to set an annual threshold at which a council tax referendum is triggered. This is an additional local democratic check and balance to avoid the repeat seen under the last Labour Government when council tax more than doubled. This package of referendum principles strikes a fair balance. The council tax referendum provisions are not a cap, nor do they force councils to set taxes at the threshold level. Councillors, mayors, police and crime commissioners and local councils will rightly want to consider the financial needs of local residents at this challenging point in time, alongside the public’s support for action on keeping our streets safe and providing key services.The Mayor of London has requested flexibility to levy an additional £20 on Band D bills to the Greater London Authority (GLA) precept to provide extra funding for Transport for London (TfL). The Government has expressed ongoing concern about the management of TfL by this Mayor, and it is disappointing that London taxpayers are having to foot the bill for the GLA’s poor governance and decision-making. Whilst the Government will not oppose this request, any decision to increase the precept is solely one for the Mayor, who should take into account the pressures that Londoners are currently facing on living costs and his decision to raise council tax by 9.5% last year.This will be a settlement that also recognises the importance of funding adult social care by confirming significant additional funding for social care. Additionally, for social care authorities, the Government will consult on a 2% precept, for both 2023-24 and 2024-25. When taking decisions on council tax levels, local authorities should recognise the pressures many households are facing.In addition, the policy statement has set out key assumptions behind the second year of the settlement. This includes confirming that the Review of Relative Needs and Resources and a reset to Business Rates growth will not be implemented in the next two years, to give councils more certainty for budget planning. For 2024-25, the policy statement refers to the significant new funding stream expected from the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme.Finally, we are encouraging local authorities to consider whether they can use their reserves to maintain services in the face of immediate inflationary pressures, taking account, of course, of the need to maintain appropriate levels of reserves to support councils’ financial sustainability and future investment. The Government notes the significant increase in some local authority reserves over the two years of the pandemic.All of the proposals set out in the policy statement will be subject to the usual consultation process within the Local Government Finance Settlement.This Written Ministerial Statement covers England only.

Update on the Community Ownership Fund

Dehenna Davison: Over the weekend I was delighted to announce the outcome of Round 2 Window 1 of the £150 million Community Ownership Fund, which will see £6.7 million awarded to 32 projects across the United Kingdom. Combined with Round 1 projects, this additional funding takes our overall funding total to £16.7 million for 70 projects. The full list of successful applicants can be found here.This targeted support is delivering much needed investment to ensure that important parts of our social fabric, such as pubs, sports clubs, theatres and post office buildings, can continue to play a central role in towns and villages across the United Kingdom. In this round we will be funding a diverse range of projects, from the Margaret Haes Riding Centre in Bury to the Llandyrnog Community Shop in the Vale of Clwyd.The Community Ownership Fund is helping to reduce geographical disparities across the United Kingdom. To this end, the funding provided in Round 2 Window 1 will see over £800,000 awarded to projects in Scotland, £1.1 million to Wales and £555,000 to Northern Ireland. This, so far, brings the total funding awarded across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to £4.9 million collectively.The funding provided in Round 2 Window 1 will also see £4.2 million awarded to projects in England. This brings the total funding awarded across English regions to £11.8 million collectively.The projects supported by the Community Ownership Fund, such as the United Kingdom’s most remote pub, The Old Forge in Scotland, Ballymacash Sports Academy in Northern Ireland, and the Leigh Spinners Mill in Greater Manchester, are already making a genuine difference to their communities. With the additional investment awarded in this bidding window, I am delighted to be supporting many more small but mighty local assets across the United Kingdom, levelling up the places we love and cherish.Interested groups can submit an Expression of Interest form to start their application process at any time. With a 4-year window until 2024/25 for investment to be released, there is plenty of opportunity for interested community groups to apply to take over invaluable community assets and to run them as businesses – by the community, for the community.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence Contingent Liabilities

Mr Ben Wallace: I am pleased to inform the House that I am today laying a Departmental Minute to advise that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received approval from His Majesty’s Treasury to recognise new contingent liabilities associated with the SKYNET 6 Programme. This Programme, as set out in the Defence Command Paper: Defence in a Competitive Age, will provide the MOD with a world class, modern Military Satellite communications network to support our and our allies’ operations globally. This will be achieved through new capital investment in the ground stations, spacecraft and user terminals that form the SKYNET strategic capability. These new contingent liabilities are specifically related to the launch of our first next generation satellite, known as SKYNET 6A, which is scheduled to take place in financial year 2025/26 using a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral. This follows four SKYNET 5 satellites (A, B, C and D) currently in orbit, which will be initially supplemented, and then incrementally replaced by 6A and a further four satellite systems being procured through the SKYNET 6 Enduring Capability (EC) project. His Majesty’s Treasury approved the proposed three contingent liabilities and Chairs of the PAC and HCDC were notified on 23 June 2020.Three contingent liabilities are recognised.The first contingent liability relates to loss of capability of the SKYNET 6A system. The MOD will take ownership of the SKYNET 6A spacecraft at launch and has not sought to secure insurance for the launch or acceptance phases, as it was assessed as not providing value for money. The post mitigation worst-case financial exposure of risk of loss of capability related to these events, assuming the need to re-procure a spacecraft with similar capabilities, has been assessed at a value of £720 million.The second contingent liability relates to long delay of launch. The MOD has agreed to bear the allowable costs of a launch related delay which arise for reasons entirely outside of the control of the contractor. A long launch delay would result in the MOD incurring additional storage, pre-launch insurance, maintenance, launch service provider and other delay-related allowable costs. The post mitigation worst-case financial exposure of a long launch delay has been assessed at a value of £253 million.The third contingent liability relates to a cross-waiver of liability in favour of the SKYNET 6A launch service provider. Cross-waivers are standard practice in space launches. The MOD has agreed a cross waiver of liability in favour of SpaceX and related parties in respect of damage to Ministry of Defence property and personal injury, death or property damage incurred by Ministry of Defence employees. This liability is assessed as unquantifiable due to the nature, scope, range, and scale of possible scenarios that might occur, which means that it is not currently possible to provide a realistic estimate of cost.SKYNET 6A  (pdf, 64.8KB)

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Update

Maria Caulfield: In July 2021, the government published its response to the recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (the review). In this, we accepted the overarching conclusion of the review that the system failed to listen to patients, or to put patients at the centre of their care. We accepted the majority of the review’s nine strategic recommendations and 50 Actions for Improvement.We also committed to publishing an update on progress made in the following year to implement the accepted strategic recommendations and actions for improvement. I am happy to be able to publish that report today, which shows that we have made substantial progress and sets out the remaining next steps. The key points are set out below.Putting patient voice at the centre of patient safety Dr Henrietta Hughes was appointed as the first Patient Safety Commissioner in July 2022. Dr Henrietta Hughes is already championing the value of listening to patients to seek improvements to patient safety around the use of medicines and medical devices.Pelvic meshIn April 2022, the ninth specialist mesh centre opened in Bristol. Women from every region now have access to the specialist support services they need, including pain management, psychological support and surgical mesh removal. As of October 2022, over 1,900 patients had been referred for treatment.The first annual clinical summit took place on 6 December 2022, where all 9 mesh centres came together to share best practice in setting up the centres, delivering patient-centred care, and ensuring robust data collection to support continued improvement. To ensure these centres are supporting women as intended, I have asked the Department to work with NHS England to review mesh centre outcomes and patient experience.Sodium valproate Government takes safety concerns associated with sodium valproate very seriously. Significant measures were introduced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2018 to further reduce the use of valproate during pregnancy, including the introduction of the Pregnancy Prevention Programme and smaller pack sizes to encourage monthly prescribing with a pictogram/warning image on valproate packaging.The MHRA and NHS Digital have developed the Medicines and Pregnancy Registry to improve our ability to monitor implementation and compliance with the Pregnancy Prevention Programme. This tracks all women in England who are taking NHS-prescribed valproate and identifies when they are pregnant and accessing NHS care for that pregnancy. The latest data from the registry shows that the number of pregnant women prescribed valproate in a 6-month period has fallen from 68 women in April to September 2018, to 17 women in October 2021 to March 2022. Last year the registry was also expanded to cover other anti-epileptic drugs in addition to sodium valproate.Existing approaches to reduce the number of pregnant women exposed to sodium valproate are important and are making a difference, but there is no room for complacency, and we still need to do more. For that reason, the independent Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) has considered a comprehensive assessment by MHRA which included input from patients and other key stakeholders and a review of the available data.The CHM has advised that there should be greater scrutiny of the way sodium valproate is prescribed and that further risk minimisation measures are required, in particular that two specialists should independently consider and document that there is no other effective or tolerated treatment. The CHM has established an implementation group to support the safe introduction of the new measures into clinical practice. The implementation group includes representation from across the healthcare system.The proposed new measures will be implemented over the coming months according to patient priorities so that they can be introduced safely. In the meantime, health professionals are being reminded that sodium valproate should not be used in female children and women of childbearing potential unless other treatments are ineffective or not tolerated, and the Pregnancy Prevention Plan should be closely adhered to. It is important to note that patients taking sodium valproate are strongly advised to continue to do so until reviewed by a healthcare professional.I will also be hosting a roundtable on valproate prescribing with key stakeholders on 19 December 2022, to discuss how we can work together to further improve monitoring and compliance with the regulatory controls.Last year we held a consultation on original pack dispensing and whole pack dispensing of medicines containing sodium valproate, which included a proposal that medicines containing sodium valproate are always dispensed in the original manufacturer’s packaging. This would ensure patients, and particularly women and girls of childbearing potential, always receive the patient information leaflet with warnings about taking the medicine while pregnant. The government has considered the responses received and will shortly publish a response to the consultation.Medical device information system Following extensive scoping work we have concluded that the best and fastest way to deliver a medical devices information system is by increasing the scope and coverage of outcome registries.We aim to increase the scope and coverage of medical device outcome registries from 15% to 80% of high-risk procedures over the next three years. As well as device tracking the registries will include patient outcomes and patient experience, helping us deliver on wider objectives such as better information about individual consultants’ performance, which was highlighted in the Paterson inquiry.Declaration of interestsThe IMMDS review stated that transparency of payments made to clinicians needs to improve. We are in a piloting phase for the declaration of doctor’s interests in NHS and independent settings. Healthcare providers will publish this information to ensure it is more accessible to patients.During the pilot, we will seek feedback from healthcare providers, doctors, and patients on the feasibility and cost of establishing and maintaining systems across different healthcare settings; the content of standardised templates and guidance; and the accessibility of information for patients. Full implementation will begin in 2023. Once we have a system in place for doctors, we will consider systems for other healthcare professionals.Next stepsWe know there is more work to do to improve women’s experiences of the healthcare system, and patient safety. The government is committed to continuing to work with partners across the health and care system to implement the accepted recommendations and actions for improvement.The review also brought into sharp focus the importance of listening to women's voices and was a key driver behind the decision to develop the first ever Women's Health Strategy for England, which we published this summer. Through the Women’s Health Strategy, we will continue to improve the health and wellbeing of women and girls.

Department for Education

Skills Update

Robert Halfon: As part of the Government’s commitment to provide a comprehensive and clear skills offer for employers and individuals, the Government has decided to integrate the Traineeship programme into 16-19 study programme and adult education provision from 1 August 2023. Integrating Traineeships into general provision means the Department for Education will no longer fund the delivery of Traineeships through a standalone national programme. All the elements of the Traineeship programme - English and maths, work experience, employability and occupational skills, and qualifications - will continue to be funded for 16-19 year olds as part of the national 16-19 study programme, and for adults through the adult education budget. This means that providers with access to funding can choose to continue to offer Traineeship programmes for young people who need support to get into work, apprenticeships or further learning.In addition, there are other great alternative opportunities provided by other programmes such as T-levels and the T-level transition programme, Bootcamps, Apprenticeships, and Sector-Based Work Academies.In areas where the Adult Education Budget has been devolved, Mayoral Combined Authorities and Greater London Authority will decide on how best to support young adults in their areas.Integrating the national Traineeship programme will simplify the skills landscape making it easier to navigate for young people and employers. It will also enable employers, training providers and local authorities to tailor their programmes, as they will have greater flexibilities to design a Traineeship around the learner or business need as we will be removing the national framework which sets strict requirements on providers, in how they must deliver a Traineeship. This will better support individual learners and focus on local needs to support growth at a local level, and help young people gain the skills they need to get into apprenticeships and sustainable employment.The Traineeship programme has been running for nearly 10 years and the number of starts has remained relatively low. To encourage growth, we introduced occupationally specific Traineeships, an employer incentive and featured Traineeships within various communications campaigns. However, the 17,400 starts achieved in the 2020/21 academic year and the 15,500 starts in 2021/22 remains a small number of starts for a nationally administered programme. It is right, therefore, that we focus our offer on our mainstream provision. This change will make it easier for young people and employers to navigate our skills offer and will enable providers to better tailor their programmes to deliver the key skills needed to drive growth in local communities.